Effects of population based screening for Chlamydia infections in the Netherlands limited by declining participation rates.

Background: A large trial to investigate the effectiveness of population based screening for chlamydia infections was conducted in the Netherlands in 2008-2012. The trial was register based and consisted of four rounds of screening of women and men in the age groups 16-29 years in three regions in the Netherlands. Data were collected on participation rates and positivity rates per round.

High yield of reinfections by home-based automatic rescreening of Chlamydia positives in a large-scale register-based screening programme and determinants of repeat infections.

Introduction: In a systematic internet-based Chlamydia Screening Implementation Programme in The Netherlands, all chlamydia-positive participants automatically received a testkit after 6 months to facilitate early detection of repeat infections. The authors describe participation in repeat testing and prevalence and determinants of repeat infection during three consecutive annual screening rounds.

Methods: Data collection included information on testkits sent, samples received and results of laboratory tests at time of baseline test and retest; (sexual) behavioural variables and socio-demographic variables were assessed.

Lymphogranuloma venereum proctitis in men who have sex with men is associated with anal enema use and high-risk behavior.

Objectives: In the industrialized world, lymphogranuloma venereum proctitis (LGVP) has been reported only in men who have sex with men. Factors responsible for the outbreak remain to be elucidated.

Goal: The goal of the present work was to elucidate risk factors associated with LGVP.

Molecular epidemiology of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, shows distinct heterosexual and homosexual networks.

Molecular typing, added to epidemiological data, can better identify transmission patterns of gonorrhea in Western countries, where the incidence has recently been rising. From September 2002 to September 2003, patients with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of gonorrhea at the Clinic for Sexually Transmitted Infections in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, were subjected to a questionnaire pertaining to sexual risk behavior and sexual partners in the 6 months prior to the diagnosis. The Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates were all genotyped using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism of the porin and opacity genes.

The CD14 functional gene polymorphism -260 C>T is not involved in either the susceptibility to Chlamydia trachomatis infection or the development of tubal pathology.

Background: The functional polymorphism -260 C>T in the LPS sensing TLR4 co-receptor CD14 gene enhances the transcriptional activity and results in a higher CD14 receptor density. Individuals carrying the T/T genotype also have significantly higher serum levels of soluble CD14. The T allele of this polymorphism has recently been linked to Chlamydia pneumoniae infection.